This study investigates induced productivity effects of firms introducing new environmental technologies. The literature on within-firm organisational change and productivity suggests that firms can achieve higher productivity gains from adopting new technologies if they adapt their...

We show that for a broad class of technologies the relationship between policy stringency and the rate of technology adoption is inverted U-shaped. This happens when the marginal abatement cost (MAC) curves of conventional and new technologies intersect, which invariably occurs when emissions...

It has long been argued that the implementation of market-based environmental policy instruments such as environmentally-related taxes and tradable permits is likely to lead to greater technological innovation than more direct forms of regulation such as technology-based standards. One of the...

In the discussion on innovations for sustainable development, radical innovations are frequently called for in order that the transformation of society to a system perceived as sustainable can succeed. The reason given for this is the greater environmental efficiency of these innovations. This...

This survey reviews the empirical literature on the impact of environmental policy instruments on the rate and direction of technological change. The survey is explicitly focused on the empirical identification of the hypothesis to expect a stronger impact from market-based incentives than from...

This research examines variations in the diffusion of agriculture across countries and archaeological sites. The theory suggests that a society´s history of climatic shocks shaped the timing of its adoption of farming. Specifically, as long as climatic disturbances did not lead to a collapse of...

Im Rahmen der deutschen Energiewende gibt es auf lokaler und regionaler Ebene verschiedene Ansätze neue Formen der Energieversorgung zu etablieren und Energieeffizienz und Energieeinsparung zu fördern. Unklar ist, inwiefern diese Ansätze Ähnlichkeiten aufweisen und ggf. für die Erreichung...

Einen Kern der Energiewende bildet der Ausbau Erneuerbarer Energien in Deutschland. Be-sonders im Strombereich greifen dabei EU-, Bundes-, Landes- und Kommunalpolitik sowie bürgerschaftliches Engagement eng ineinander, allerdings nicht immer reibungslos. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, bestimmte...

In Germany, solar thermal systems (STS) have only diffused to a minor extent yet. This paper analyzes, which demand side factors are decisive for the further proliferation of this environmentally benign technology. Making use of a consumer survey in North-West Germany in 2007, we examine the...

We study the introduction of new technologies when their costs are subject to idiosyncratic uncertainty and can only be fully learned through individual experience. We set up a dynamic model of clean experience goods that replace old polluting consumption options and show how optimal regulation...